There is significant need for compact 3-D measurement systems for precision measurement of manufactured parts. A common method is to use a Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM). CMM's use a mechanical stylus that measures a part's shape by touching it at multiple points and assembling the coordinates of the touch points to form a 3-D representation. CMM's are typically slow because of their mechanical nature. Interferometric measurement systems have also been proposed. However, such 3-D interferometric measurement systems that are commercially available today, are generally large, expensive, and have difficulty measuring parts with a wide variety of surface reflectivities.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a compactly configured interferometric measurement system which has the advantages of being non-contacting and capable of measuring parts at higher temporal and spatial rates than conventional CMM's.
It is another feature of the invention to provide an interferometric measurement system compact enough so that its 3-D interferometric sensor can be mounted on the measurement arm of a CMM, in order to take advantage of the excellent positioning capability of a CMM while using the precision and speed of non-contact interferometric methods. The measurement system is compatible with restrictions on the size and weight of objects that can be mounted on CMM arms. A further feature of the compact interferometric measurement system of the invention is that the sensor thereof can be generally of lower cost and simpler to logistically support than is the case with larger interferometric measurement equipment heretofore available.
A further feature of the invention is to provide an interferometric measurement system having compact, lightweight interferometric sensors.
It is a still further feature of the invention to reduce the size of an interferometric measurement system and make significantly compact for portability, an interferometric 3-D interferometric measurement system using advanced components such as high-density CCD detector arrays and tunable diode lasers that provide multiple laser wavelengths as the basis for measurement.
Typically, a frequency-scanning interferometer includes a tunable laser that is stepped through a series of frequencies (wavelengths), and the interference of a reference beam and object beam is recorded for each wavelength using a 2-D detector array. Subsequent Fourier processing of the interference data yields a 3-D image of the object.
A known frequency-scanning interferometer system 10 is depicted in FIG. 1. While in the overall form of a Twyman-Green interferometer, a tunable laser 12 under the control of a computer 14 produces a measuring beam 16 that can be tuned through a range of different frequencies. An illuminating system including beam conditioning optics 18 expand and collimate the measuring beam 16. A folding mirror 20 directs the measuring beam 16 to a beamsplitter 22 that divides the measuring beam 16 into a object beam 24 and a reference beam 26. The object beam 24 retroreflects from a test object 30, and the reference beam 26 retroreflects from a reference mirror 32. The beamsplitter 22 recombines the object beam 24 and the reference beam 26, and imaging optics 34 (such as a lens or group of lenses) of an imaging system focus overlapping images of the test object 30 and the reference mirror 32 onto a detector array 36 (such as a CCD array of elements). The detector array 36 records the interferometric values of an interference pattern produced by path length variations between the object and reference beams 24 and 26. Outputs from the detector array 36 are stored and processed in the computer 14.
The elements (pixels) of the detector array 36 record local interferometric values subject to the interference between the object and reference beams 24 and 26. Each of the interferometric values is traceable to a spot on the test object 30. However, instead of comparing interferometric values between the array elements (pixels) to determine phase differences between the object and reference beams 24 and 26 throughout an interference pattern as a primary measure of surface variation, a set of additional interference patterns is recorded for a series of different beam frequencies (or wavelengths) of the measuring beam 16. The tunable laser 12 is stepped through a succession of incrementally varying beam frequencies, and the detector array 36 records the corresponding interference patterns. Data frames recording individual interference patterns numbering 16 or 32 frames are typical.
The local interferometric values vary in a sinusoidal manner with the changes in beam frequency, cycling between conditions of constructive and destructive interference. The rate of interferometric variation, e.g., the frequency of intensity variation, is a function of the path length differences between the local portions of the object and reference beams 24 and 26. Gradual changes in intensity (lower interference frequency variation) occur at small path length differences, and more rapid changes in intensity (higher interference frequency variation) occur at large path length differences.
Discrete Fourier transforms can be used within the computer 14 to identify the interference frequencies of interferometric (e.g., intensity) variation accompanying the incremental changes in the beam frequency of the measuring beam 16. The computer 14 also converts the interference frequencies of interferometric variation into measures of local path length differences between the object and reference beams 24 and 26, which can be used to construct a three-dimensional image of the test object 30 as measures of profile differences from a surface of the reference mirror 32. Since the reference mirror 32 is planar, the determined optical path differences are equivalent to deviations of the object 30 from a plane. The resulting three-dimensional topographical information can be further processed to measure important characteristics of the object 30 (e.g. flatness or parallelism), which are useful for quality control of precision manufactured parts.
Enhancements to the instrument design and processing used in frequency-scanning interferometry are described in U.S. Nonprovisional application Ser. No. 10/610,235, filed 30 Jun. 2003, under the title FREQUENCY-SCANNING INTERFEROMETER WITH NON-SPECULAR REFERENCE SURFACE, based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/392,810, filed 1 Jul. 2002, which are both hereby incorporated by reference. The invention described by the concurrently filed application simplifies the design of multi-wavelength interferometers by eliminating the need for collimating optics among other improvements and thus enabling compact, lightweight and inexpensive systems.